Hercules
by robspace54
Summary: After the Cylon nukes struck there were units left behind; little ships that carried on the fight. This is the story of Hercules and her crew who like so many must have taken desperate action.
1. Chapter 1

_**Hercules**_

By _robspace54  
><em>

**Battlestar Galactica (2004) is owned by David Eick Productions, R&D TV, Universal Television, NBC Universal Television Studio, Universal Media Studios, and Universal Cable Productions.**

**This story is offered for the enjoyment of the show's fans and in no way attempts to infringe on any rights of the show's developers or copyright holders.**

**The setting is Helios Gamma, envisioned by the creators of the battlestarwiki. **

**Any errors playing in this sci-fi universe are entirely my own.**

000

The events related here happened when it all went to frack…

0

"_This is the news from Celeste City at noon today. The Scorpia Stingers will be hosting the women's zep-ball team from Themis Uni from Libran today and the central Government asks that all citizens show your support for the home team… what? Wait… wait, there's a… oh my Gods, ladies and gentlemen I've just been given a bulletin. The Twelve Colonies have been attacked! This is a flash alert! The Cylons…." _The suave female announcer cleared her throat, and tossed her long red hair and what came next was nearly a croak. _"The Cylons have broken the Treaty and are attacking the colonies! _

_"It is reported that Picon and Caprica, along with…what? Oh my Gods! Take cover! Get out! To the shelters! The orbital yards are reporting they are taking hits! Oh may the Lords of Kobol protect us! Take cover, take co…"_

The signal ended in a harsh burst of static at roughly the same time that all system-wide comm feeds had gone down.

Archer Belmac sat stunned as he watched the message again and again. Delias Coverly, the attractive announcer of Celeste City News was likely vaporized by the blast that took out Celeste. Archer's grandfather had lived through the First Cylon War and he'd passed on his stories, so Archer guessed that all the capital cities had been nuked by the toasters. Goodbye Delias, he sighed inside, you _were_ beautiful.

"Gods, Gods," muttered his first mate, who wiped her flowing eyes. She clutched at his shoulder in the zero-G of the cargo ship.

"Talia, if you can't control yourself then damp it down!" Archer yelled at her from where he was belted down in front of the comm panel.

Talia Rogers cuffed him on the shoulder. "Well what can we do other than pray? But I forgot! YOU don't pray!"

Archer rubbed his arm where her fist had thumped him. "You go right ahead." He looked at Talia and said seriously. "Maybe you can pray for both of us."

Talia made fists with her hands then moaned. "All those people, and you're, you're just _watching_ _it _over and over."

Archer sighed. "Thinking."

She stared at the clock. "It was over an hour ago. Gods rest their souls. Surely the Colonial Fleet will go after them?"

"The war's _over_ Talia. The Fleet's gone; I'm sure of it."

"Can't be. But we've been at peace for over fifty years!" she practically screamed.

He snapped his fingers. "I pulled in a packet from a relay sat. They jumped into the system at three points then went after the inhabited planets. It didn't take long."

The hatch into the command pod swung open and Danny Bergos floated in. "I've been looking at consumables…" he stopped when Talia pushed herself over to him and hugged him. "Oh babe, sorry," he muttered into her ear. "Not much we can..."

Talia kissed his lips and he returned the favor.

Archer sighed for he knew they were to be married next planet fall. "Shut that hatch," he told them.

"Sure Skipper," Danny answered and when he turned his head Archer could see he'd been crying as well.

Talia and Danny together closed the hatch then clung to one another forlornly.

After the satisfying clunk of latches being levered shut Archer faced his crew of two. "Passengers?"

"The doctor is holding her own but she had to trank her patient. You know he's related to the president of Celeste College and this cousin or whatever had been telling him that the Cylons were working on something out in the deep? The other six… well they're in shock."

"Well now we know," Talia sniffed. "Demons! Devils from Hades! We should have wiped each and every Cylon out fifty years ago!"

Archer sighed. "No argument." He looked at the plotting screen. "_Hercules_ has a lot of delta-V. The question is what do we do with it?"

Talia and Danny exchanged glances. "Where should we go? Can we get away?"

Belmac chewed on a fingernail. "Have to think about it." Helios Gamma, their parent star, was surrounded by five planets and one major asteroid belt. He stared at the screen showing the current locations of planets and major moons.

Thanatos, the hell world, and the closest in, was tidally locked with the star. Next out was Ophion, a gas giant, and it bore rings and was five times larger than the three inhabited worlds of the system. A pulsing light at the outer edge of the Acheron Asteroid Belt showed the approximate location of the ship nearly thirty degrees angular spacing away from Scorpia, their home port.

Next out were the inhabited worlds of Scorpia, Libron, and Sagittaron. He'd seen the final broadcast too many times from Celeste City, the capital of Scorpia, and he winced at the thought of its destruction along with her one million residents. Scorpia had the most inhabitants of Helios Gamma system, plus the Scorpia Orbital yards were in orbit there so it had to be a prime target.

Libran the university world was next outward and on the far side of the system. He pushed a control and tiny screen winked on telling him comm with the central library nexus of University City was down, which was what he expected. Furthest out sat chilly Sagittaron and her people who were just as cold and unfeeling as what he imagined a Cylon must be like.

It was only because Helios Gamma was so energetic that the habitable zone was so wide here. A tidy little system all in all, Archer sighed. "Home's not in such good shape at the moment," he muttered.

"Arch?" Danny asked.

Archer bit down on a ragged fingernail and tore it away, wincing at the pain as blood leaked from his torn fingertip. "Here," he pointed to Ophion.

"Ophion the gas giant?" Talia said. "Nothing over there but the science base on Rufus the largest moon."

"I know, but that's not our destination." He tapped out commands on his rudimentary computer which chewed math for a few seconds.

A curved line appeared on the display screen stretching from the Belt across the gap to Ophion. It bent tightly around the planet, ducking inside the innermost ring gap then came back across the Gamma System.

"Skipper," Danny gulped, "that takes us…"

"Right into the sun. Oops." Archer tapped a few more keys and the computer altered the trajectory while pop-up windows floated at Ophion and above the sun. "But if we burn right here… deflection. Three burns in number. Starting where we are, then over here," he pointed to distant Ophion, "and then right here," and his finger touched the screen above the stellar mass. "Slingshot back across the system and right out to Scorpia."

Talia pulled herself to the screen, gulped hard and then shook her head. "Crazy. Totally."

"I know," Archer sighed.

"That would dump us on top of the Orbital Yard," Danny said after a long pause. "Right thru the orbital plane," he squinted at the tiny glowing numbers. "And at _high velocity_."

Archer frowned. "Yes."

Talia shook her head. "No."

He grimaced at her. "Yes. I think fifty metons of high grade ore travelling at zero point three ought to do some damage."

"How do you…" Danny's voice shook. "How do we…"

Archer shook his head. "They just killed our home. You got a better idea? Ought to be a couple of Cylon Basestars nearby. We might smack one of 'em, maybe _two_, if they're nestled up to the fuel stores at the orbital yards." He sighed. "I think they will be and if not then the fuel will be gone when we nail it." His fist struck the console making a solid thump.

Danny looked at the screen then at Talia. "Right down their throats."

Talia shook her head. "You just said the war is over."

"It is," Archer answered.

"But… that's that's…" she blubbered.

Danny grinned a very wicked grin. "Come nearly out of the sun and they'll think we're an asteroid."

Talia rubbed her arms. "No! No! Our home is dead and you want to join it?"

Archer looked at her. "Talia… I'm _very_ sorry."

Her eyes were filled with horror. "Surely the toasters will want workers; slaves to rebuild?"

"Rebuild just what babe?" Danny sniffed. "It's all gone."

She stared at both her fiancé and captain in horror. "Frack."

"Yes," sighed Archer. "Frack indeed."

"What about our passengers?" Danny said.

Archer bit down on another fingernail. "Suggestions?"


	2. Chapter 2

Captain Belmac looked around the passenger lounge and frowned for his passengers didn't impress him very much, at least not at this moment. Liz Koch, their medico on this run, flashed him a warning look from where she hovered over a sleeping man, so he tightened his mouth and said, "May I have your attention?" he said firmly.

The babble of moans, curses, and mutterings slowed then started anew, now directed at him. Some were crying, tears floating around their faces in the null G, while others were yelling. One man sat by himself near the refreshment dispenser staring into the distance and twisting his hands.

"What are _you_ going to do about this?" a man dressed in a black suit practically screamed. "And why is the gravity off?"

Another man, middle-aged with a furrowed brow started up. "I must get a message off! I will need _priority access_ to the Central Bank of Scorpia as well as to my headquarters!" he paused for breath giving Archer a moment to respond.

"Shut up!" Archer yelled and even Dr. Koch flinched. "All of you!" he breathed deep. He got silence as well as resentful looks.

Now, first things first! _First off_, the Cylons have attacked the Colonies and we are at war. _Second_, there will be _no_ outside communications possible _or_ prudent for some time, and _third_…" he shook his head, "Sorry, didn't mean to come out that way… ah, our artificial grav is off to save fuel and elude detection."

"Captain?" a fair-haired young woman raised her hand. She wore a unitard of Tragis Mining blue like most of the others, but had accessorized with a lavender scarf and upswept hair held back with a matching hair band.

"Yes? You are?"

"I'm Amanda Newsome. Elude detection, you said?"

Archer glanced down at the printout in his hand. Amanda Newsome, he read, asteroid mining engineer, rotating home on leave after an internship in the Acheron Belt. "Go on," he told her. The one guy must be Regis Kepler, who was a pain when he came on board. He snuck a quick look at the list. The one in black must be Milo Smits; worked for a shipping company.

"So we're going to hide?" she asked.

Archer nodded. "Yes or try to. The Cyclons will have hunter-killer units active thru the system so I prefer that we remain off their dradas as much as possible. You'd probably like that too." He popped his neck. "Mind if I join you?" he waved at the table they were seated around.

No one protested so he floated to a seat and belted himself down. "Now, here's what I know. All three colonies in the system have been hit; Scorpia, Libron, _and_ Sagittaron. All off-world communication is down near as far as I can tell, other than sporadic messages – likely from ships like ourselves."

"Captain, have you sent out a distress call?" Smits asked, a bit calmer than before. "There must be other ships out here. Perhaps we could help one another?"

Archer turned soulful eyes at Milo Smits, the account manager for Momont Freight. He wore a jet black business suit which looked good despite the white face staring out of it. "No. We have monitored comm bands and picked up very few messages. Unfortunately each of those calls was silenced soon after, I assume by someone homing in on each signal and destroying it."

Someone sobbed.

"I know; this is hard; too hard," Archer sighed to them. "So here we are; staying silent. Ms. Rogers, my first mate, is outside doing some work on our transponder so that stays quiet."

Even if the main circuit breaker was pulled on that unit, Archer knew that safety regs required an omnidirectional signal was automatically broadcast once per hour, so Talia was EVA taking a wire cutter to it as well as taking other actions.

Dr. Koch cleared her throat. "I have tranks if any of you feel the need, but not to excess. I will control the drug cabinet."

Archer scratched at his jaw looking around the small compartment. "I have to ask you to _remain_ calm. Life support is quite adequate and we have propulsion. No need to worry on that score, but…" he looked around at his charges, some still scowling, others frightened out of their wits. "We are working on a plan to put you off at the Rufus Station at Ophion."

"Oh?" said the man who had yelled. "Out of the way then? So _you_ can escape." Sarcasm dripped from his words. "And I still need to contact my bank."

Archer asked through gritted teeth, "I will ignore your remark and its implication, mister?"

"Regis Kepler."

Archer forced a smile at him and he recalled this guy had some dealings with the Scorpia Network. Well Regis I think your net value is zero, he thought but he held that away from his lips.

"Mr. Kepler need I remind you that this ship, _Hercules_, is a cargo-hauler? We have no faster than light capability. There will be no escape from the Cylons in the Gamma system, of that I am sure, as least not in this ship. And where to? Where would we go?" he sighed. "Each of the Twelve Colonies has been attacked according to the news out of Scorpia; that is before they got hit and went silent. You know as much as I do."

Amanda spoke up. "Indeed. You mentioned Rufus. I know there's a research station there."

Archer nodded. "It's small and unimportant. We could drop you off in the life boat there."

"But where would you go after that?" a petite blonde woman asked. "Oh, I'm Phyllis Herald by the way."

Archer stared at the scrap of paper in his hand. "You're the shuttle pilot."

"Yes, I am, or was. Just Belt mining station to mining station." the woman sighed. "Why?"

"Every done any aero braking?"

Her blue eyes widened and she shook her head. "Only in simulations."

Archer unbelted and rose. "I need you on the bridge; come with me." He looked around the lounge. "I will return in a few moments."

Archer escorted the Herald woman forward through the crew berthing space and life support then onto the bridge. There he introduced her to Danny. "Ms. Herald, this is Danny Bergos who is our cargo specialist. How's Talia doing?"

Danny pointed to a screen showing the airlock door closing. "Done and almost back in."

"Good, would you get Ms. Herald…"

"Call me Phyllis," she said softly.

"Fine. Set her up on the aux board to review life boat ops. Pull the training tapes on emergency planetary entries for a start." He watched Danny stiffen. "Best we can do Dan, as we discussed."

Danny shook his head. "Got it."

Archer checked the situation board and watched the transponder blip of a passenger liner between Sagittaron and Libra wink out. He sighed. "Either you killed your IFF like we did or you just joined the Lords of Kobol," he muttered bitterly and for a few seconds his long lost faith almost came back. The screen also showed locations of major asteroids near their trajectory, as well as Cetus Station behind them, which blinked on and off then stayed off as he watched. "Damn it," he muttered. "Here there be Cylons." He stayed at the display station for a few more minutes, watching further idents disappear from it and as each tiny light was extinguished it profoundly sank his spirit more. People were dying out there and he sat here watching it like a vid game.

But_ Hercules_ was secure, on track and the big burn he wanted to make in two hours should pose no problem. Ship systems were good, so far. He heard the lock finish cycling and the inner hatch cracked open so he went to help Talia doff her environment suit when she came out.

She gave him a thumb's up. "No sweat," she muttered when she took her helmet off.

"Great." Archer helped her strip off the clinging garment, so much more difficult in zero-G then when the grav plates were on.

"I… I looked around," she said softly. "There are explosions out there in the Belt. About ten degrees behind. Must be some action."

"I know. That was Cetus," Archer whispered to her shocked face. "Just keep that to yourself." Then he went aft to his passengers, bracing himself for the next step.


	3. Chapter 3

Belmac got back to the lounge and saw the crying man being comforted by a young woman along with Dr. Koch. "Doc?" he called to her and she drifted over to his side.

"Arch, these people are starting to lose their minds," she whispered to him.

"I see. Who's the crier over there?"

"Cardon Titus is the guy and the lady is his friend Regina Atlas. They work together on Cetus Station."

Archer closed his eyes briefly. "About Cetus…"

"Yes?"

He sighed. "Never mind."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"We don't have to worry about Cetus."

"Oh Gods," Liz moaned.

Archer glared at her. "I don't see Jove or Saturn swooping in to help us, now do you?"

Liz shook her head. "Have a heart Arch."

He barked a short laugh and everyone stared at him. "Yes I laughed. Got a problem with that?"

"So you think this is… what? Funny?" Smits yelled.

He shot back, "Oh I think it's hilarious! Once again the human race has to battle the Cyclons! A joke – a _complete_ and _utter_ joke by the Universe at our expense."

"You ought to be ashamed," Liz hissed at him.

"Ashamed? Oh yes I am. I'm ashamed that _people_ created the Cylons, as _servants_, so why are we oh so surprised when they turn on us? Not once but twice!"

"But they're machines," Smits rebutted. "Machines; toasters."

Kepler cleared his throat. "But we made them _too_ intelligent. My grandfather fought in the first War. He told me they were… tricky."

"Right you are, Mr. Kepler," Archer said clapping his hands slowly. "Too smart by half. The early models were made to do the dirty work. Mining, refining, picking up garbage…" he paused. "But I guess they figured out they didn't want to stop at sweeping the streets now did they?" He forcibly clamped his mouth shut before he said any more for he was just this far from screaming.

"Now they'll be sweeping us out of the way," moaned the crying man.

Archer crossed the room and peered into the red-rimmed eyes. "Mr. Titus, right?" In this state Titus didn't look like much but his arms and shoulders bulged with muscle and his hands were corded by massive sinews.

"Ye…sss," the man stammered then wiped his face on his sleeve dispersing floating spheres of salty tears to the air currents.

Archer nodded. "EVA tech, am I right?"

The man nodded. "Yep. Good at it too."

Archer clapped his hand on Titus' shoulder and the tissue under his shirt felt like high-strength carbiron. "We may need you and you're strength." He looked at the woman who was hovering near him. "And you are Ms. Atlas."

She was a dark-haired beauty with dark green eyes that looked as deep as the Whirlpools of Hesperus. "I am."

Archer looked at her closely trying to ignore her loveliness. "Miner."

"Ore extract specialist," she corrected him. "Cardon, uhm, Titus, _he_ does the tough stuff while I get to sit inside and run the drill rigs remotely."

"Good with servomechs then."

She smiled faintly. "I try to be," she said but the confident way she answered told him more than she admitted.

"Any time on Zed Prime programming?"

"No. Not really."

"Captain?" Smits interrupted. "I have; that is I used to. Long time back."

"Me as well," added Amanda Newsome. "I have a minor in it."

"Good," Archer answered. "Smits and Ms. Newsome I'll have my cargo master set you up on a console. I need you to think about reprogramming our cargo modules software. They have simple brains but we may need them to do a little more than just come and go and hold station waiting to be docked."

Kepler glared at Archer. "Oh no you're not! I see what you're doing!"

Archer whirled to face him. "_I_ am Captain of this vessel and I will say and do what _must_ be done," he growled so Kepler wilted and the rest of them got that scared rarbit look.

"Captain?" Regina asked in the strained silence. "Just what are you proposing to do?"

Captain Belmac scanned the room by turning his eyes and his neck and rotating his body so all of them could see his face. "I'm, _we_, are fighting back of course."

The old man strapped to the seat stirred, yawned, and caught his eye. "Good." His hands trembled as he reached out, unsnapped the seat restraint and pushed off the seat. "About bloody time we did something. You all thought I was drugged, but not enough to _not_ hear a lot of blubbering and moaning and crying," he glared at Kepler. "And bitching." He swung his wrinkled face at Archer. "Captain," he made a half bow in the air. "We are at your disposal."

Archer shook his head. "I'm sorry to say this but I will need all of you. I know that each of you," he paused, "all of _us_ have lost family today, and friends and lovers," his chest got tight. "But we can hit back. My ship has plenty of propulsion and full ore pods clamped to us."

Regina shook her head. "I used to go hunting with my dad on Libran for crocigators. Just me and him in a flatbed skimmer with a couple of broad-bore guns."

Archer grinned at her. "You get it then."

The woman put her fists together, pulled them to her chest and then threw her hands forward and apart. "Boom!"

"Right," Archer answered. "Boom."

Amanda Newsome blinked her brown eyes at him slowly and her freckled face broke into a rueful grin. "You are insane."

"No," Archer shook his head. "Desperate _and_, I hope unpredictable to our enemies. Our families will be avenged." Somehow he must have hit the right tone, for as he watched they all started to smile, nod, and give every sign they were willing to help.

Only the doctor trembled at what he had just said. Idiot, she thought to herself. He's going to get us _all_ killed, were the panicked words that raced through her mind.


End file.
